Just dribble it out
With any basketball game out of reach and with no quotient to chase, head coaches would advice their players to just dribble the clock out and wait for the final buzzer to sound. There might be no written law regarding the matter, but it has become an unwritten tradition.
Wednesday evening, though, with the San Miguel Beermen already up 96-88 with 10 seconds remaining and their shot clock winding down, eight-year league veteran Chris Ross decided to pull up for a triple to increase their lead to 11 points, 99-88 — the final margin of the game. And coach Tim Cone, a purist and still a student of the game, did not take kindly of it.
As the two teams returned to their respective dugouts, the 19-time PBA Champion coach decided to confront Ross about the matter and had to be separated.
Cone did not further comment on the matter and neither did Ross, who finished the game with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with eight assists.
The San Miguel head coach tried to shed light to the incident, saying that the 31-year-old Filipino-American had no other choice but to hoist up a shot as the shot clock was expiring.
“I think he feels na kailangan hindi abutin ng shot clock, [kaya] tinira niya,” Austria said. “Unfortunately, pumasok.
“Nagalit sila. They thought na disrespectful, but that’s not intentional dahil pumped up yung bata.”
Whatever the case is, purists and aficionados will have a debate on whether what should have been done in that situation.
